Conventional sports equipment carriers are often bulky and are made of flexible fabric that generally offers little protection for the usually expensive sports equipment carried therein. Baggage handlers at airports, train stations, bus depots, and hotels frequently show little respect to travelers' luggage and sports equipment bags as they rush to load and unload baggage of all shapes and sizes. Expensive sports equipment within the baggage is often damaged by such rough handling.
Further, rain, sleet, snow, oil, grease and other liquids may seep into conventional flexible fabric sports equipment bags and damage the expensive equipment within. If the sports equipment is accidently stored when such moisture is present, further damage to the equipment may result.
Past proposals to provide a more rigid sports equipment bag for use in transit have met with limited success. For example, although the rigid polyethylene golf bag shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,299, provides somewhat adequate protection for the golf clubs during transit or shipment, it fails in many other respects. However, its handle, wheels, legs, struts, slide, cable, and a pulley remain attached to the exterior of the bag during travel, making the bag bulky and difficult to carry. Furthermore, these additional components, the golf bag's thermoplastic shell, and the golf bag's expanded interior, which is needed to carry additional accessories such as golf balls, golf tees, gloves and the like, add additional weight to the golf bag. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a rigid sports equipment carrier made with a high strength to weight ratio structure which is lightweight and which provides significantly increased protection to the equipment therein during shipment and transit.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,001 discloses a golf bag having a generally cylindrical lower portion and a generally cylindrical rigid upper portion. The rigid upper portion has first and second halves vertically hinged along a side and a latch on a side opposite the vertical hinge. The rigid bag disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,001 may also have a rigid body. However, the golf bag disclosed does not have a high strength to weight ratio structure nor does it have any detachable pouches. Thus, it is another object of the present invention to provide a sports equipment carrier which is fitted with detachable pouches to provide a less bulky carrier for greater ease in handling during shipment and transit.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a liquid-resistant sports equipment carrier to prevent damage of the sports equipment stored therein.